DFA chief Romulo takes leave pending naming of replacement

Amid long-standing rumors of his exit from the department, outgoing Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo on Friday filed an indefinite leave of absence, until Malacañang names his replacement. Following Romulo’s leave, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Policy Erlinda Basilio has been designated as the acting secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), according to spokesperson Ed Malaya. Basilio will remain as acting Foreign Affairs secretary, until Romulo’s successor to the post is formally appointed by President Benigno Aquino III. Businessman and former ambassador to Washington Albert del Rosario is rumored to be Romulo’s replacement, but the neither the DFA nor Malacañang has confirmed the reports. Romulo’s leave came following talk that he is set to leave the department’s helm, marking the exit of one of the Philippine government’s longest-serving appointed officials, having served three administrations in the last three decades in various capacities. Romulo, 77, is a close friend of the Aquino family, having been the budget chief during the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino, mother of the incumbent president. He was also one of the longest serving Cabinet members of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, having served as Finance secretary, Executive Secretary, and Foreign Affairs secretary in various periods since 2001. When Aquino won the presidential elections in May last year, Romulo was reappointed as Foreign Affairs chief, becoming the only Cabinet secretary from the previous administration to be retained by Aquino. On Wednesday, Aquino refused to confirm Romulo’s departure from the department, saying instead that his administration was still finalizing the details of the announcement. Aquino said, however, that it is “very possible at this time" that Romulo may serve in another capacity in his administration. DFA sources said Romulo may be asked to head the Commission on Audit, or be given an ambassadorial post. Sources also said Romulo was not Aquino’s original choice for the DFA post, and that it was former Trade Secretary Juan Santos who was being eyed to replace him when Aquino assumed the presidency. Santos was among the so-called Hyatt 10, a group of Cabinet secretaries from the Arroyo administration who resigned in 2005 after allegations of electoral fraud in favor of the former President. Santos, however, was reportedly offered by Aquino the ambassadorial post in Washington, but the former declined. Acting DFA chief Basilio, on the other hand, started as Foreign Service Officer Class IV in 1970, and has since then served in various posts, such as Assistant Secretary for Asia and Pacific Affairs (1995-1997); Philippine ambassador to Sweden (1997-2003); Permanent Representative to the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in Geneva (2007-2010), and Undersecretary for Policy (2006-2007 and 2010 to the present).—JMA/MRT/JV, GMA News